solidus (punctuation mark) - Memidex dictionary/thesaurus [computing, not used in computing contexts] | stroke [computing] | ... A swift cut with a blade, particularly with fighting weapons as a sword, saber, knife etc. | A swift striking movement. | The symbol /. Also sometimes known as a forward slash, particularly in computing. | [British, slang] A pee, a trip to the toilet... (42 of 167 words, 13 definitions, 8 usage examples, pronunciation) Solidus (punctuation) : Wikis (The Full Wiki) The Full Wiki More info on Solidus (punctuation) Wikis Advertisements Note: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article! This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles . From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ⁄ tie ( ⁀ ) The solidus ( ⁄ ) is a punctuation mark that is not found on standard keyboards. It may also be called a shilling mark or in-line fraction bar or fraction slash or a forward-slash. Its Unicode encoding is U+2044.

The solidus is similar to another punctuation mark, the slash , which is found on standard keyboards; the slash is closer to being vertical than the solidus. These are two distinct symbols that have entirely different uses. However, many people do not distinguish between them, and when there is no alternative it is acceptable to use the slash in place of the solidus. Typographers should note that both the ISO and Unicode designate the solidus as FRACTION SLASH U+2044 [1] and the slash as SOLIDUS U+002F. [2] This contradicts long-established English typesetting terminology. [3] Contents 4 External links History The names solidus and shilling mark have the same background. In the Commonwealth of Nations , before decimalisation , currency sums in pounds , shillings , and pence were abbreviated using the ' £ ' symbol, the 's.' symbol, and the 'd.' symbol (collectively £sd ) referring to the libra , the solidus , and the denarius .

The 's.' was at one stage written using a long s , ∫ that was further abbreviated to the ⁄ symbol, and suppression of the 'd.'; thus '2 pounds, 10 shillings, and 6 pence', often written as £2 ⁄ 10 ⁄ 6 (as an alternative to '£2 10s. 6d.'), and '6 shillings' would often be written as 6 ⁄ -. This usage caused the names solidus (given the abbreviation's historical root) and shilling mark to be used as names for this character. Usage The shilling mark is used to denote shillings, see the History section above. Mathematics The solidus is used in the display of ratios and fractions as in constructing a fraction using superscript and subscript as in 123⁄456, or on the same level as in 23⁄50. The solidus is found in many legacy Apple Macintosh character sets. It can be typed on a Macintosh computer (with US keyboard layout ) by pressing Option+Shift+1. Systems capable of fine typography display this result as a true fraction with small numbers.

Unicode also distinguishes the DIVISION SLASH U+2215 ( ∕ ) which may be more oblique than the normal solidus character. Music Some songs on later records by the French progressive rock band Magma utilize the solidus (or a solidus like character) in their titles. Examples of these songs include 'Ẁohldünt M⁄ëm Dëẁëlëss', 'Tü Lü Lï ⁄ë Üi Dü Wiï', and 'Rind⁄ë' References Solidus - definition of solidus by The Free Dictionary Solidus - definition of solidus by The Free Dictionary Related to solidus: Solidus temperature sol·i·dus (sŏl′ĭ-dəs) n. pl. sol·i·di (-dī′) 1. A gold coin of the Roman Empire used in Europe until the 1400s. Also called bezant. 2. Printing A virgule; a slash. 3. Chemistry The maximum temperature at which all components of a mixture, such as an alloy, can be in a solid state.

[Middle English, from Late Latin (nummus) solidus, a solid (sesterce), from Latin solidus, solid; see solid.] solidus Slash or Virgule (Punctuation) - Definition & Examples continue reading below our video 4 Tips for Improving Test Performance The Slash as a Substitute for Or "The primary function of the slash is to substitute for the word or. Working as a kind of shorthand, the slash helps the hurried writer to jot down sentences such as these: - Please help yourself to milk and/or cookies from the refreshment table. - Every student is expected to bring his/her gymsuit to class. - Ellen will travel to the conference by air/rail. "Though the slash appears more and more frequently these days, traditional grammarians do not consider the preceding sentences appropriate for formal writing. . . . To be perfectly safe, avoid the slash and substitute alternatives, such as or and similar words." (Geraldine Woods, Webster's New World Punctuation: Simplified and Applied. Wiley, 2006) Marking Line Divisions in a Poem - "A slash is also used to indicate lines of poetry when they are not indented, but are run into the text.

Be sure to put a space before and after the slash. I've often wondered what Robert Frost meant by repeating the last two lines of 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening': 'And miles to go before I sleep, / And miles to go before I sleep.'" (Dawn Rodrigues and Myron Truman, A Norton Pocket Guide to Grammar and Punctuation. W.W. Norton, 2008) - "In 15 spare lines, from opening query ('Margaret, are you grieving / Over Goldengrove unleaving?') to final couplet, [Gerard Manley] Hopkins covers a vast amount of ground." (Leah Hager Cohen, "Season of Grief." The New York Times, September 19, 2008) Marking Dates "'Had there been proper coordination among the intelligence agencies, then 9/11 might well have been prevented,' Mr. [Arlen] Specter said, cataloging the intelligence failures investigated by the Sept.

11 panel." (Philip Shenon, "Senate Approves Intelligence Bill." The New York Times, December 9, 2004) Marking Alternatives "The slash separates alternatives that may exist simultaneously in one person/place/thing/notion, or are offered up as possible choices. This is waffling territory at its most sublime! And why not, since this punctuation mark can't settle on one name for itself, but keeps its options open." (Karen Elizabeth Gordon, The New Well-Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed. Mariner Books, 2003) Origins of the Slash and Solidus - "The [slash] was . . . once used as a precursor to the soft hyphen , to mark end-of-line word division. Solidus is Latin for 'shilling': in Britain, the name was extended to the mark used to separate shillings from pence in pre-decimal currency: 7/6 for seven shillings and sixpence." (Tom McArthur, The Oxford Companion to the English Language.

Oxford University Press, 1992) - "The word ‘slash’ first appeared in medieval times to mean a slicing movement by a knife or weapon (derived from the Old French esclachier). It’s easy to see how this word was then transposed onto the dynamic diagonal slit that is the slash. In medieval manuscripts, slashes were used rampantly in place of today’s comma , but today the slash has limited uses. Its most common function is to substitute the word ‘or’ (Sir/ Madam, Y/N). It is also used to make a strong connect between words or phrases (love/hate), to replace per (km/h) and to indicate the end of a line in a poem or song. In recent years, the slash has become known as the forward slash, to differentiate it from the backslash, which is used only in computing. "Typographically speaking, it is worth noting the difference between the solidus and the slash (also known as virgule). The solidus is a mark used to denote fractions and is at a close to 45-degree angle. The slash is used in punctuation and is more vertical in orientation.

However, today there is little differentiation between them and where there is no option of a solidus, a slash is generally acceptable. There are usually no spaces on either side of a slash, unless it’s indicating the end of a line of verse." (Adapted from Glyph: A Visual Exploration of Punctuation Marks and Other Typographic Symbols by Adriana Caneva and Shiro Nishimoto [Cicada, 2015]. Liz Stinson, "The Secret History of the Hashtag, Slash, and Interrobang." Wired, October 21, 2015) Slash punctuation - Example Problems Slash punctuation A solidus, oblique or slash, /, is a punctuation mark. It is also called a diagonal, separatrix, shilling mark, stroke, virgule, slant, or forward slash. Contents Usage History This symbol goes back to the days of ancient Rome. In the early modern period, in the Fraktur script, which was widespread through Europe in the Middle Ages, one slash (/) represented a comma , while two slashes (//) represented a Dash . The two slashes eventually evolved into a sign similar to the Equals sign (=), then being further simplified to a single dash (-).

English The most common use is to replace the hyphen to make clear a strong joint between words or phrases, such as "the Ernest Hemingway/William Faulkner generation ". Yet very often it is used to represent the concept or, especially in instruction books. The symbol also appears in the phrase and/or, a prose representation of the logical concept of inclusive or . The State Legislature of Georgia , however, has banned this usage as cumbersome. The slash is often used (incorrectly) to separate the letters in a two-letter initialism , such as R/C (short for radio control) or even w/e (an internet slang abbreviation for whatever). Purists strongly discourage this misuse of the symbol, however, because it could potentially create confusion about its meaning. The virgule is also used to indicate a line break when quoting multiple lines from a poem , play , or headline . For a specialized use of the slash in the titles of fan fiction stories, see slash fiction . Note that the solidus and virgule are distinctly different typographic symbols with decidedly different uses. The solidus is significantly more oblique than the virgule.

The character found on standard keyboards is the virgule and while most people lump the two characters together, (and when there is no alternative it is acceptable to use the virgule in place of the solidus,) they are different. The solidus is used in the display of ratios and fractions as in constructing a fraction using superscript and subscript as in “123⁄456”; the virgule is used for essentially any other textual purpose. A solidus is used to separate the numerator and denominator in a vulgar fraction , or as a division operator in general. 3/8 (three eighths) x = a / b (x equals a divided by b) Note that the special character Fraction slash U+2044 , character ⁄ (the solidus or shilling mark proper), can be used instead of a virgule, and is preferred whenever possible. It is also found in many legacy Apple Macintosh character sets. Systems capable of fine typography should display the result as a true fraction with smaller numbers. Unicode also distinguishes the Division Slash U+2215 (∕) which may be more oblique than the normal solidus character.

Computing Files On Unix-like systems, the slash carries two distinct meanings. Its primary use, as with URLs , is to separate directory and file components of a path: pictures/image.jpg A leading slash however represents the root directory of the Virtual file system ; it is used when specifying absolute paths: /home/joe/pictures/image.jpg It is sometimes called a "forward slash" to contrast with the backslash \, which is the path delimiter on MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows systems. These operating systems use the backslash rather than the slash because in the early days of CP/M —before directories were supported —the slash was chosen as the command-line option indicator: dir /w /ogn Note however that the "forward slash" will be translated into a backslash by most versions of DOS and Windows, in contexts where there is little ambiguity with command-line options. Some people incorrectly refer to a slash as a "backslash", for instance when reading URLs out loud. Chat Many Internet Relay Chat and in-game chat clients use the slash to distinguish commands, such as the ability to join or part a chat room or send a private message to a certain user. /join #services /me sings a song about birds.

Programming In computer programming , the solidus corresponds to Unicode and ASCII character 47, or 0x002F . It is used in the following settings: In most programming languages , / is used as a division operator, Comments in C and JAVA begin with /* (a slash and an asterisk), and ended with */ (the same characters in the opposite order). C++ and C99 introduced comments that begin with // (two slashes) and span a single line. In HTML and XML , a slash is used to indicate a closing tag. For example, in HTML, </em> ends a section of emphasized text that had been started with <em>. Dates Certain shorthand date formats use / as a delimiter, for example "9/16/2003" (in United States usage) or "16/9/2003" (in many other countries) means September 16 , 2003 . In Britain there was a specialized use in prose: 7/8 May referred to the night which starts the evening of 7 May and ends the morning of 8 May, totalling about 12 hours depending on the season.

This was used to list night-bombing air-raids which would carry past midnight. Some police units in the US use this notation for night disturbances or chases. Contrariwise, the form with a hyphen , 7-8 May, would refer to the two-day period, at most 49 hours. This would commonly be used for meetings. The International Standard ISO 8601, in attempting to resolve this ambiguity, introduced problems of its own. According to this norm, dates must be written year-month-day using hyphens, but time periods are written as two standard dates separated by a slash: 1939-09-01/1945-05-08, for example, would be the duration of the Second World War in the European theatre, while 09-03/12-22 might be used for a fall term of a Western school, from September third to December twenty-second. British money Before decimalisation in the UK, / was used to separate pounds , shillings , and pence values. Notice how the dash is used to represent zero.

2/6 one pound, nineteen shillings, and eleven pence Alternative names In the UK, the usual term for the mark is an oblique, although slash is gaining currency with increasing use of computers and also through the media, such as BBC Radio . Sometimes this is called stroke (and oblique stroke) , although that may be confused with the hyphen . Stroke is most commonly used among the North American amateur radio community. Among American telephone technical support representatives in the computer industry, the double-slash in a URL address is commonly nicknamed "whack-whack." For example, the representative may tell the user to go to a support website: "OK, open up a browser and type in the following address: http: whack-whack, www dot supportsite dot com." The origins of this slang term are not known but may be related to the slang for the exclamation point (!) which support engineers, especially in password resets, often refer to as "bang." —C.J.

Newton de:Schrägstrich fr:Barre oblique he:קו נטוי nl:Schuine streep ja:スラッシュ (記号) fi:Vinoviiva sv:Snedstreck Punctuation | Style Guide | University of Oregon See Diacritical Marks. Ampersand Commonly known as the and sign, the ampersand shouldn’t be used as a replacement for and in reference to UO offices or policies. The ampersand may be used in the name of a non-university business, such as an architecture, accounting, advertising, or law firm, if that is the standard procedure for that business. The only exception to this rule for UO offices is the School of Architecture and Allied Arts when abbreviated as A&AA, to distinguish from AAA (the American Automobile Association). arts and sciences School of Architecture and Allied Arts Department of Computer and Information Science but the law offices of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius Wieden & Kennedy Apostrophe Of all punctuation marks, the apostrophe is the most abused. The most common misuses are inserting an apostrophe before the final s in a plural noun—where it doesn’t belong—and omitting it from a possessive noun, where it does.

Prizes are awarded. (not Prize’s are awarded.) Have you seen the book’s cover? (not Have you seen the books cover?) Plural Nouns Don’t use apostrophes in plural nouns. This includes dates such as 1870s and 1990s. The only time you need to use an apostrophe in forming a plural is to avoid ambiguity. For instance, if you’re writing about letter grades, you may need the apostrophe to distinguish A’s from the word As. ifs, ands, or buts children’s literature Possessive Pronouns His, its, hers, theirs, yours, ours, and whose are possessive pronouns; they don’t contain apostrophes. It’s is not a possessive pronoun; it’s a contraction of it is. The book’s end is better than its beginning. but It’s kind of you to ask. Names Ending in S The possessive is formed with an additional s. Dylan Thomas’s poetry the Ganges’s source Colon The colon is often used to introduce a list or series. However, it’s redundant to use a colon directly after such verbs as are and include.

Three types of examinations are offered: oral, take‑home, and in-class. but The course offerings include Spanish, marine biology, and medieval history. Comma Use commas to separate all the items in a series of three or more ending in and or or. The university awards bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. The Department of German and Scandinavian offers courses in Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish as well as in German. The following example may appear to be an exception, but it isn’t because there are only two items in the series: (1) planning, (2) public policy and (public) management. Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management Dashes—Em and En Dashes aren’t hyphens. The em dash is longer than a hyphen and indicates a break in the syntax of a sentence. Of the three grading options—graded only, pass/no pass only, either graded or pass/no pass—the last option is the default. The en dash is half as long as an em dash. Use an en dash to indicate continuing or inclusive numbers in dates, times, or reference numbers. 2002–3 The en dash sometimes replaces a hyphen for clarification.

post–Civil War a hospital–nursing home connection Use an em dash when attributing a quote. “You can never be overdressed or overeducated.” —Oscar Wilde Diacritical Marks Words in other languages, and even a few adopted into English, sometimes have special marks above or beneath certain letters that provide help in pronunciation or meaning. Following are six of the most common diacritical marks used in Romance and Germanic languages when they are written in the same Latin alphabet we use in English. All except the cedilla can be used with letters besides the ones in the examples. When in doubt, use English. Name Don’t use them. Spell out. Ellipses Use ellipses (using three spaced periods, not a single-glyph three-dot ellipsis character) sparingly and only as specified below—not as a substitution for “etc.” or as a design cliché. In the following examples, ellipses replace words in the original sentences without distorting their meaning. original sentence: The newspaper reporter, known worldwide for her frontline reporting, has received many awards for her war correspondence. with ellipsis: The newspaper reporter . . . has received many awards for her war correspondence.

original sentences: The photojournalist barely escaped a falling timber as he stood under a tree, trying to show the forest fire from a fighter’s perspective. His injuries left him shaken, though he was elated to capture the dangers of firefighting on film. with ellipsis: The photojournalist barely escaped a falling timber . . . though he was elated to capture the dangers of firefighting on film. In quoted speech or conversation, faltering speech may be indicated by an ellipsis. Exclamation Point Overuse of the exclamation point imparts an adolescent quality to most writing. Use it sparingly to express surprise, disbelief, or other strong emotion. To quote F. Scott Fitzgerald, “An exclamation mark is like laughing at your own joke.” For additional guidance, consult this handy chart from Hubspot. Hyphen Compound adjectives should be hyphenated to eliminate ambiguity of meaning. Otherwise, leave open. first class mail non-English Use a hyphen when using pro- to coin a word indicating support (e.g., pro-feminist). After requires a hyphen when used to form a compound adjective but not when it’s part of a compound noun.

after-dinner speech but afterglow and afternoon Hyphenate an age when used as an adjective, even if the noun the adjective modifies is only implied rather than stated. the five-year-old program The five-year-old [child] attended kindergarten. Hyphenate adjectives used to define measures. the seven-foot-one center of the Los Angeles Lakers Hyphenate the noun co-op when abbreviating cooperative, but don’t hyphenate cooperate, coordinate, or coeducational. Don’t use a hyphen in a compound noun with vice: vice chancellor For further examples, refer to The Chicago Manual of Style’s hyphenation guide . Italics Italics are used for titles of books, genera and species, long plays, periodicals, movies, newspapers, operas and other long musical compositions, ships, and works of art. Titles of television and radio series are italicized, but titles of individual episodes are placed in quotation marks.

Woolf’s To the Lighthouse Bizet’s Carmen O’Keeffe’s Cow’s Skull, Red, White, and Blue Shaw’s Major Barbara National Public Radio’s All Things Considered but “Eye of the Beholder,” Rod Serling’s classic episode of The Twilight Zone, is regarded by many fans as a high point for the series. Some musical compositions are known by their generic titles—symphony, quartet, nocturne—and often a number or key or both. Such names are capitalized but not italicized. For example, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 25, would not be italicized; however, its nongeneric subtitle, Moonlight Sonata, would. The titles of university courses follow the standard rules for capitalization of the titles of works; they are neither italicized nor placed in quotation marks. Introduction to Biological Anthropology (ANTH 270) has no prerequisite. Italics are also used for unfamiliar foreign words. Words that were originally borrowed from another language but have been permanently added to the English lexicon (i.e., if they’re in an English dictionary) should not be italicized.

samizdat ‘underground’ hors d’oeuvres (no ligature between o and e) Use specific, concrete language rather than italics, capitals, or quotation marks for emphasis. This committee consists of two, not three, people. not This committee is composed of two (2) people. Parentheses Use parentheses for enumeration within the text as follows: (1) carbohydrates, (2) fat, (3) protein, (4) vitamins For enumeration with periods, see also Numbers . Parentheses sometimes enclose brief explanatory abbreviations. McKenzie Hall (formerly the Law Center) houses offices for the College of Arts and Sciences. The writing requirement for a bachelor’s degree is College Composition I (WR 121) and either College Composition II or III (WR 122 or 123). Punctuation in Lists When the items in a list are sentence fragments, no ending punctuation is necessary. When the items form complete sentences, a punctuation mark, usually a period or semicolon, may be used at their terminus. receipt date or Placement is dependent on the date the application is received. The style chosen for the list should be consistent. Do not mix and match sentence fragments and complete sentences within a list.

Quotation Marks Use double quotation marks before and after direct quotations as well as titles of interviews, personal correspondence, short poems and plays, short musical compositions, speeches, individual television or radio programs, and other unpublished writing. The poem is titled “If.” “Freedom of the Free Press” was the title of her lecture. Use single quotation marks for quotations within quotations. I said, “You must know who shouted, ‘Eureka! I’ve found it!’” Put a period or comma inside the ending quotation mark. Professor Ogard’s newly published article is “China in Transition.” Caldwell’s lecture, “Death and Life in American Law,” is at 7:30 p.m. in 129 McKenzie Hall. Put an exclamation point, question mark, or semicolon inside the ending quotation mark only if it’s part of the quotation. “Who’s on First?” is one of Abbott and Costello’s classic comedy routines. Put an exclamation point, question mark, or semicolon outside the ending quotation mark if it isn’t part of the quotation. Are you going to read “China in Transition”? Don’t use quotation marks after the word so-called. It’s redundant.

The so-called transient (not “transient”) was a college student. Use quotation marks around unusual, technical, ironic, or slang words or phrases not accompanied by a word calling attention to them. Use this device sparingly, and on first use only. The “transient” was a college student. Thousands of dollars were raised in support of the Interior Architecture Program’s “daylighting” research. Solidus (Slash) The solidus (also known as the slash or virgule) is overused and frequently ambiguo us. Too often, the relationship between the items joined by a solidus is unclear. Does it mean and, either ... or, or does it simply link two closely related words? As defined by The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, the solidus is used to separate alternatives, such as and/or. It is appropriate, then, to use the solidus in pass/no pass or in P/N. In most other cases, try to use words instead of the solidu s. faculty or staff member (not faculty/staff) Use a hyphen instead of a solidus to link two words.

middle-secondary education (not middle/secondary) If space limitations make it necessary to use a solidus, explain clearly what it means. Courses numbered 4XX/5XX are for seniors and graduate students, respectively. Although undergraduates and graduates share the same classroom, graduate students are required to do more work, are evaluated according to a tougher grading standard, or both. Use the solidus with a space on either side to separate two lines of poetry quoted in the text. In “Song of the Open Road,” Ogden Nash wrote, “I think that I shall never see / A billboard lovely as a tree.” Virgule | Define Virgule at Dictionary.com virgule noun 1. a short oblique stroke (/) between two words indicating that whichever is appropriate may be chosen to complete the sense of the text in which they occur: The defendant and his/her attorney must appear in court. 2. a dividing line, as in dates, fractions, a run-in passage of poetry to show verse division, etc.: 3/21/27; “Sweetest love, I do not go/For weariness of thee.” (John Donne) 3. a short oblique stroke (/) used in computing; a forward slash.

Expand 1830-40; < French virgule comma, little rod < Latin virgula; see virgulate Can be confused Examples from the Web for virgule Expand Contemporary Examples He may be known for the virgule, but the feeling of his new exhibition more closely resembles an exclamation mark. Shoes Fit For A Museum: Roger Vivier’s Virigule Show Opens at Palais De Tokyo Sarah Moroz October 1, 2013 Historical Examples His beard was trimmed to a moustache and virgule (now called imperial) and he carried a sword at his side and a cane in his hand. Catherine de' Medici Honore de Balzac He wore the tuft of beard called a virgule (a comma) and a moustache. British Dictionary definitions for virgule Expand (printing) another name for solidus Word Origin C19: from French: comma, from Latin virgula a little rod, from virga rod Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd.

1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Word Origin and History for virgule Expand n. thin sloping line, used as a comma in medieval MSS, 1837, from French virgule, from Latin virgula "punctuation mark," literally "little twig," diminutive of virga "shoot, rod, stick." The word had been borrowed in its Latin form in 1728. Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper Rare, and ambiguous: slash or comma . "Virgule" (or rather, Latin "virgula", meaning "little rod" or, vividly enough, "little penis") was the name of a punctuation character shaped like a small slash and used in the Latin writing system much like a modern comma -- hence the ambiguity of this term in modern English.

Compare French "virgule" and Italian "virgola", meaning "comma" (not "slash"); Italian "doppia virgola" and "virgoletta", both meaning " double quote ". (1997-04-08) Slash (punctuation) - Academic Kids Slash (punctuation) A solidus, oblique or slash, /, is a punctuation mark. It is also called a diagonal, separatrix, shilling mark, stroke, virgule, slant, or forward slash. Contents Usage History This symbol goes back to the days of ancient Rome. In the early modern period, it was the predecessor of the comma in the German language. English The most common use is to replace the hyphen to make clear a strong joint between words or phrases, such as "the Ernest Hemingway/William Faulkner generation ". Yet very often it is used to represent the concept or, especially in instruction books. The symbol also appears in the phrase and/or, a prose representation of the logical concept of inclusive or . The State Legislature of Georgia , however, has banned its use in this word as cumbersome.

The slash is often used (incorrectly) to separate the letters in a two-letter initialism , such as R/C (short for radio control) or even w/e (an internet slang abbreviation for whatever). Purists strongly discourage this misuse of the symbol, however, because it could potentially create confusion about its meaning. The virgule is also used to indicate a line break when quoting multiple lines from a poem or play . For a specialized use of the slash in the titles of fan fiction stories, see slash fiction . A virgule is used to separate the numerator and denominator in a vulgar fraction , or as a division operator in general. 3/8 – three eighths x = a / b – x equals a divided by b Note that the special character Fraction slash U+2044 , character ⁄ (the solidus or shilling mark proper), can be used instead of a virgule, and is preferred whenever possible. It is also found in many legacy Apple Macintosh character sets. Systems capable of fine typography should display the result as a true fraction with smaller numbers. Unicode also distinguishes the Division Slash U+2215 (∕) which may be more oblique than the normal solidus character.

The slash is used to separate directory or file names in Unix file paths and in URLs . It is sometimes called a "forward slash" to contrast with the backslash \ which is the path delimiter on MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows systems. Windows uses the backslash rather than the slash because in the early days of DOS — before directories were supported — the slash was chosen as the command-line option indicator: dir /w /ogn c:\windows\ Note, however, that the "forward slash" is also accepted as a path delimiter by most versions of DOS and Windows, in most contexts where there is no ambiguity with command-line options. Non-technical people often sloppily and incorrectly refer to a slash as a "backslash", for instance when reading URLs out loud. In computer programming , the solidus corresponds to Unicode and ASCII character 47, or 0x002F . It is used in the following settings: In most programming languages , / is used as a division operator, In C (1999 standard) and C-like languages, // (two slashes) is used to begin a single-line comment. In HTML and XML , a slash is used to indicate a closing tag.

For example, in HTML, </b> ends a section of bold text started with <b>. Dates Certain shorthand date formats use / as a delimiter, for example "9/16/2003" (in United States usage) or "16/9/2003" (in many other countries) means September 16 , 2003 . In Britain there was a specialized use in prose: 7/8 May referred to the night which starts the evening of 7 May and ends the morning of 8 May, totalling about 12 hours depending on the season. This was used to list night-bombing air-raids which would carry past midnight. Some police units in the US use this for night disturbances or chases. Contrariwise, the form with a hyphen , 7-8 May, would refer to the two-day period, at most 48 hours. This would commonly be used for meetings. Problems with the use of the slash in dates has been compounded by the International Standard ISO 8601, accepted by both the Germans as DIN 5008 and by the Europeans as European Standard EN 28601.

These norms prescribe writing dates using hyphens, but time periods are written using the slash: 1939-09-01/1945-05-08, for example, would be the duration Second World War in the European theatre, while 09-03/12-22 might be used for a fall term of a Western school, from September third to December twenty-second. British money Before decimalisation in the UK, / was used to separate pounds , shillings , and pence values. Notice how the dash is used to represent zero. 2/6 Punctuational - definition of punctuational by The Free Dictionary Punctuational - definition of punctuational by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Thesaurus , Legal , Encyclopedia . punctuation Punctuation refers to the specific markings, signs and symbols that are used in and around sentences to give them structure and to allow for correct understanding and comprehension. n. 1. a. The use of standard marks and signs in writing and printing to separate words into sentences, clauses, and phrases in order to clarify meaning. b. The marks so used. 2. The act or an instance of punctuating.

punctuation (ˌpʌŋktjʊˈeɪʃən) n 1. (Linguistics) the use of symbols not belonging to the alphabet of a writing system to indicate aspects of the intonation and meaning not otherwise conveyed in the written language 2. (Linguistics) the symbols used for this purpose 3. (Linguistics) the act or an instance of punctuating punc•tu•a•tion (ˌpʌŋk tʃuˈeɪ ʃən) n. 1. the practice or system of using certain conventional marks or characters in writing or printing in order to separate elements and make the meaning clear, as in ending a sentence or separating clauses. 2. punctuation marks. 3. the act of punctuating. [1530–40; < Medieval Latin pūnctuātiō marking, pointing] punctuation em dash , en dash - The em dash is the long dash used in punctuation whose length is based on the width of the letter M; the en dash is shorter (the width of an N) and the hyphen is even shorter.

punctual - From Latin punctum, "point," it can mean "pertaining to punctuation," or "of or relating to a point in space." square brackets , parentheses , braces - Square brackets were formerly called crotchets, round brackets are commonly called parentheses, and curly brackets are called braces; the punctuation called brackets derives from the bookshelf type, implying that, in writing, these marks "lift up" a section of a sentence. stigmeology - The art of punctuation. ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend: 1. punctuation - something that makes repeated and regular interruptions or divisions break , interruption - some abrupt occurrence that interrupts an ongoing activity; "the telephone is an annoying interruption"; "there was a break in the action when a player was hurt" 2.

punctuation - the marks used to clarify meaning by indicating separation of words into sentences and clauses and phrases orthography , writing system - a method of representing the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols mark - a written or printed symbol (as for punctuation); "his answer was just a punctuation mark" ampersand - a punctuation mark (&) used to represent conjunction (and) apostrophe - the mark (') used to indicate the omission of one or more letters from a printed word brace - either of two punctuation marks ({ or }) used to enclose textual material square bracket , bracket - either of two punctuation marks ([ or ]) used to enclose textual material angle bracket , bracket - either of two punctuation marks (`<' or="" `="">') used in computer programming and sometimes used to enclose textual material colon - a punctuation mark (:) used after a word introducing a series or an example or an explanation (or after the salutation of a business letter) comma - a punctuation mark (,) used to indicate the separation of elements within the grammatical structure of a sentence exclamation mark , exclamation point - a punctuation mark (!) used after an exclamation hyphen , dash - a punctuation mark (-) used between parts of a compound word or between the syllables of

 a word when the word is divided at the end of a line of text parenthesis - either of two punctuation marks (or) used to enclose textual material full point , full stop , period , stop , point - a punctuation mark (.) placed at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate a full stop or after abbreviations; "in England they call a period a stop" interrogation point , question mark - a punctuation mark (?) placed at the end of a sentence to indicate a question inverted comma , quotation mark , quote - a punctuation mark used to attribute the enclosed text to someone else semicolon - a punctuation mark (`;') used to connect independent clauses; indicates a closer relation than does a period separatrix , virgule , solidus , slash , diagonal , stroke - a punctuation mark (/) used to separate related items of information swung dash - a punctuation mark used in text to indicate the omission of a word 3.

punctuation - the use of certain marks to clarify meaning of written material by grouping words grammatically into sentences and clauses and phrases hyphenation - connecting syllables and words by hyphens grouping - the activity of putting things together in groups orthography , writing system - a method of representing the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols Translations إسْتِعمال علامات الوَقْف والفَواصِل وَضْعُ عَلامَاتُ التَّرْقِيم interpunkcerozčlenění na části noktalama noktalama işaretlerini koymanoktalama işaretlerinin kullanımı dấu chấm phẩy A. N (Ling) → puntuación f B.

CPD punctuation mark N → signo m de puntuación punctuation [ˌpʌŋktʃʊˈeɪʃən] n → ponctuation fpunctuation mark n → signe m de ponctuation punctuation n → Zeichensetzung f, → Interpunktion f; punctuation mark → Satzzeichen nt, → Interpunktionszeichen nt punctuation [ˌpʌŋktjʊˈeɪʃ/ən] n (Gram) → punteggiatura , interpunzione f punctuate (ˈpaŋktʃueit) verb to divide up sentences etc by commas, full stops, colons etc.

leestekens aanbring يُشَكِّل الجُمْلَه، يضَع علامات الوقْف والفَواصِل في الجُمْلَه слагам препинателни знаци pontuar vyznačit interpunkci interpunktieren sætte tegn χωρίζω προτάσεις με σημεία στίξης puntuar kirjavahemärgistama نقطه گذاری کردن jakaa lauseita välimerkeillä ponctuer לִפסוֹק बीच में रोकना írásjelekkel ellát memberi tanda baca nota greinarmerki punteggiare 句読点をつける (문장 등을) 구두점으로 끊다 dėti skyrybos ženklus likt pieturzīmes membubuh tanda baca leestekens aanbrengen sette skilletegn stawiać znaki przestankowe علامه ايښود

ل pontuar a pune semne de punctuaţie ставить знаки препинания vyznačiť interpunkciu postavljati ločila staviti znake interpunkcije interpunktera คั่นด้วยเครื่องหมายวรรคตอน noktalama işaretleri koymak, noktalamak 以標點分開，加標點於 ставити розділові знаки رموز اوقاف لگانا chấm câu 以标点分开，加标点于 punctuation noun 1.

the act of punctuating.

leestekens aanbring تَشْكيل الجُمَل، وَضْع علامات الوقْف والفواصِل пунктуация pontuação rozčlenění na části die Interpunktion tegnsætning στίξη puntuación kirjavahemärgistus تقطه گذاری varustaa välimerkein ponctuation מְנָקֵד विरामादि विधान írásjelek kitevése pemberian tanda baca greinarmerkjasetning punteggiatura 句読 구두점 사용 skyrybos ženklų dėjimas pieturzīmju lietošana membubuh tanda baca het aanbrengen van leestekens tegnsetting stosowanie interpunkcji ټكى ايښودل pontuação (punere a semnelor de) punctuaţie расстановка знаков препинания rozčlenenie na časti postavljanje ločil stavljanje znakova interpunkcije interpunktion การ

คั่นประโยค noktalama işaretlerini koyma 標點 розставляння розділових знаків رموز اوقاف کے لگانے کا عمل sự chấm câu 标点 2.

the use of punctuation marks.

leestekens gebruik إسْتِعمال علامات الوَقْف والفَواصِل пунктуация pontuação interpunkce die Interpunktion tegnsætning στίξη puntuación kirjavahemärgistamine نشانه گذاری välimerkkien käyttö ponctuation לְנֵקד विराम चिह्नांकन विधान központozás penggunaan tanda baca greinarmerkjasetning punteggiatura 句読 구두법 skyryba, punktuacija interpunkcija penggunaan tanda baca interpunctie tegnsetting interpunkcja علامه ايښودل pontuação punctuaţie пунктуация interpunkcia uporaba ločil upotreba znakova interpunkcije interpunktion การใช้เครื่องหมายวรรคตอน noktalama işaretlerinin kullanımı 標點法 пунктуація رموز اوقاف sử dụng dấu câu 标点法 punctuation mark any of the symbols used for punctuating, eg

 comma, full stop, question mark etc.

leesteken عَلامَة التَّرْقيم препинателен знак sinal de pontuação interpunkční znaménko das Satzzeichen tegnsætning σημείο στίξης signo de puntuación kirjavahemärk نشانه های نقطه گذاری välimerkki signe de ponctuation ניקוד विराम-चिह्न írásjel tanda baca greinarmerki segno d'interpunzione 句読点 구두점 skyrybos ženklas pieturzīme tanda baca leesteken skilletegn znak przestankowy دټكى ايښودلو نښانى sinal de pontuação semn de punctuaţie знак препинания interpunkčné znamienko ločilo znak interpunkcije skiljetecken, interpunktionstecken เครื่องหมายวรรคตอน noktalama işareti 標點符號 розділовий знак وقف کي کوئي علامت

 dấu câu 标点符号 punctuation

Question: Which punctuation mark, used in computing, etc., is called the 'solidus'?
Answer: Forward slash